"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blogs:

• The top five frequent flyer deals for February 2008
  Offers from American, Best Western, and Starwood.
• US Airways' new policy, by the numbers
  The math: More short flights will be required to earn awards.
• No US Airways valentine for frequent flyers
  Changes diminish the value of the airline's mileage program.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

As always, there's plenty of activity on the FrequentFlier Forum.

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, pwallas spoke for many on the issue of US Airways' recent policy change: "This morning's email brought notice from US Airways that for tickets purchased after March 1, they will no longer credit every flight segment with a minimum of 500 miles, but only with actual miles flown. Not a good development for those of us who fly expensive short routes like Boston-LGA or NY-DCA. It is increasingly easier to earn miles by buying things than by flying, but those miles are worth less and less when award travel is sought. My loyalty is eroding just as fast as the value of these loyalty programs."

And in the "Hotel Programs" Forum, QF WP has posted roundups of the latest promotional offers from Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood, and Radisson.

Questions, answers, opinions? Post them to the Forum!

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With Northwest's PerkChoice, Miles + Cash = Tickets

Members of Northwest's WorldPerks program can now combine cash and miles for round-trip tickets, using half the number of miles required for a round-trip award ticket for one leg of the trip, and paying half the applicable round-trip ticket price for the other leg.

While PerkChoice allows for the combining of cash and miles, it should not be confused with Northwest's periodic Cash and Miles offers. PerkChoice is a permanent program feature while Cash & Miles is offered as an occasional limited-time promotion.

PerkChoice benefits consumers in two ways.

First, WorldPerks members with lower mileage balances can redeem as few as 12,500 miles for half a round-trip, paying cash for the other half.

And second, in situations where an award seat is available on one leg of a round-trip but not on the other, WorldPerks members now will be able to use miles for the available award seat and cash for a seat on the other leg of the trip.

Good news: even heavily discounted fares, normally offered only on a round-trip basis, can be used for the paid portion of the trip. Using PerkChoice, the traveler will be charged half the round-trip ticket price.

There's bad news, too. The following caveat appears on the Northwest website: "Please note that currently, Elite upgrades are not permitted and WorldPerks miles will not be earned for PerkChoice travel." According to Northwest, both of those disconnects will be addressed and corrected later this year.

Until then, those limitations will be deal-breakers for some. But for many, PerkChoice is a significant positive step toward increased flexibility, and toward making WorldPerks a more valuable program overall.

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Starwood Offers More Points for More Stays

Through March 31, members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program can earn up to 6,000 bonus points for qualifying stays at the same North America Starwood hotel—1,000 bonus points for the first stay, 2,000 for the second, and 3,000 for the third stay at the same hotel. A maximum of 6,000 bonus points may be earned at each participating hotel.

Registration is required.

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Third Night Free at W Hotels

Charge two nights at a participating W hotel to an American Express card, get the third night free.

Offer is valid through March 30, for arrivals Thursdays - Saturdays except for the following hotels which are open for arrivals all days: W Atlanta - Perimeter, W Chicago - City Center, W Chicago - Lakeshore, W Dallas - Victory, W Honolulu, W Montreal, W New Orleans, W New Orleans - French Quarter, W San Diego, W Seattle and W Seoul.

If booking by phone, cite promotion code TNR or TNH.

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US Airways Adds Award Fee, Cuts Minimum Miles

With a comically inept sense of timing, US Airways chose Valentine's Day last week to deal Dividend Miles members a double whammy, two consumer-unfriendly policy changes seemingly designed to alienate some of the airline's most profitable customers.

Detracting from the earning side of the program is this: "Tickets purchased on/after March 1, 2008 for travel on US Airways on/after May 1, 2008 will earn the actual number of miles flown and will no longer earn a minimum of 500 miles per segment."

And devaluing the program's award side: "Members redeeming miles for award travel online within 14 days of departure will be assessed a quick ticketing fee of $50 per ticket."

No doubt other airlines considered mimicking US Airways' new no-minimum-miles policy. Tellingly, none has elected to do so.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Europe Fares on US Airways from $372

Flights to Europe are on sale from US Airways. Fares start at $372 round-trip, and destinations include Glasgow, Lisbon, Shannon, and Venice.

Most fares are valid Mondays through Thursdays, and require a seven or 14-day advance purchase, and a Saturday-night stay.

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2) Save Up to $250 Off British Airways Premium Economy Fares

British Airways is offering a $250 discount off World Traveller Plus fares, the airline's premium economy class. The offer is available only to registered members of British Airways' website, though you can easily register if you have not already.

Book tickets by March 3, for travel through May 25. The least expensive fares are available Mondays through Wednesday. A Saturday-night stay is required, and the maximum stay is 11 months.

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Win a Trip for 2 to the Beijing Olympics

Enter the Visa/United "2008 Olympic Games Trip" sweepstakes by March 31 for a chance to win a trip for two to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, including air, four nights' hotel accommodation, and event tickets.

Automatic entries are received by charging a United flight to a Visa card, but no-purchase entries are also accepted by mail.

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[Visit http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

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